Nobody chooses a copier dealer because of the copier. Every major brand builds good machines. What
you are actually buying is what happens on the morning one of them stops.

Response Time, and the Word That Changes Everything

Most dealers advertise a response time as an average. An average four-hour
response means half of their customers wait longer than four hours, and nothing in the contract says
which half you are in.

Ask whether the response time is written into the service agreement as a commitment. Ours is a
guaranteed four-hour on-site response, in the agreement, not in the brochure. That distinction only
matters on the day it matters, which is exactly why it belongs in writing.

What Happens If It Cannot Be Fixed

This is the question almost nobody asks and the one with the largest downside. If a machine under
contract genuinely cannot be repaired, whose problem is it?

Under our agreements, we replace it. We are not aware of another dealer in this market who
commits to that. It means you are never negotiating with us about whether a dead copier is your
problem, because the answer was settled before it happened.

Who Actually Turns Up

Ask whether technicians are employees or subcontractors. Subcontracted service is why response
times slip and why the person who arrives has never seen your machine before. Ours are RDS
employees, and they carry common failure parts on the van, so most calls close on the first visit
rather than being booked for a second.

The Clauses Worth Reading Twice

  • Automatic renewal. Many agreements roll over unless you give written notice 60
    to 90 days out. Diarize the date the day you sign.
  • Annual escalation. A payment or click rate that rises every year. Small at
    signing, meaningful over five years.
  • Page allowance and overage. A low headline payment with a tight allowance can
    cost more than a realistic one.
  • What is excluded. Some agreements exclude the parts most likely to fail.
  • Coverage hours. Confirm they match when your business actually operates.

You Do Not Have to Buy the Machine From Us

A good share of our service base came to us after one bad month somewhere else. We take over
maintenance on equipment placed by other dealers across Ricoh, Epson, Brother, Canon, HP, Kyocera,
Sharp, Xerox, Konica Minolta and Toshiba. See copier repair for how
that works.

Ask Us Anything on This List

If a dealer will not answer these questions plainly, that is your answer. Call
(888) 242-4242 or request a quote.